McLennan News Kevin Laliberte For The Smoky River Express. Peace River Oil Inc. acquires multi-year feedstock supply. By Kevin Laliberte. November 15,2006 Peace River Oil Inc. has secured oil sands access rights to a 9,000-acre piece of land (located around the perimeter of Girouxville) and 50 kilometres northwest of its $1.4-billion Bluesky Upgrader project. The strategic move securing the multi-year supply of feedstock for the heavy oil upgrader/diesel refinery at Kathleen was announced last week after the company won its bid through the province for mineral rights access to the land. Don Allan, president and chief executive officer for the Red Deer-based company, says deep oil well drilling on the land has yielded favourable samples and data indicating a significant level of recoverable oil sands on the two parcels. "Of all the November land sales we looked at, these two parcels showed the thickest oil sands deposits, which is exactly the type of feedstock we wanted to acquire for our upgrader," he tells the Express. "Obviously we need to do further analysis on the land, but initial projections suggest there's enough recoverable supply exists to feed our Bluesky Upgrader for a number of years." That process is being carried out over the coming months as the company analyzes existing data on the land and carries out seismic testing to determine just how much bitumen feedstock is available. Allan says the recent land acquisition is merely the tip of the iceberg for Peace River Oil. which has immediate plans to strengthen its feedstock supply through the acquisition of additional land mineral rights. The company is also pursuing the possibility of joint venture opportunities with producers and land owners in the region. Rob Gray, senior corporate relations advisor for Peace River Oil says the positive development answers a burning question which has been on the minds of a number of people since the project was unveiled. "When we announced we were moving forward with this $1.4-billion upgrader and refinery, many people got excited. But the question everyone has been asking us is where the feedstock would come from," he says. "This is a major step forward in that respect, and we will continue building our supply plans as the project progresses." Peace River Oil was established to strategically help meet the world's growing energy needs by providing heavy oil producers in Alberta's Peace River region with a technologically advanced upgrading process. Phase one of the Bluesky Upgrader project, located just south of McLennan, is slated for completion by 2010. The upgrader represents a first for the Smoky River region and is the first oil refinery to be built it North America in 23 years. Email:   twnmcl@serbernet.com